Marketing Management

Assignment
Name of salon: S R beauty salon
Number of employees: 4
Name of person contacted: Mr. ramdas
Address: 2, bazaar road, mylapore Chennai
First day findings:
Went to the salon and interacted with the customers and then asked the owner how
long back had he opened the salon and he said he opened 20 yrs. back.
Most of the customers were regulars and had been visiting the salon for yrs.
I plan to study the salon and how it can be made into a possible business
opportunity with various possibilities.

3c
Customers
1.
Age: all the age groups come in this local shop from a 5-year-old to an
80-year-old man.
2.
Geography: most of the people 99% are locals and have been coming
in for years.
3.
Psychographic: customers vary from lower strata of class to middle
class and sometimes
upper middle class.
4.
Behavioral: most of the customers preferably come from middle class
and most of them go
For a shave and a haircut.

Company
1. S R salon is good at providing low cost haircut and shaves as most of their
customers demand these two.

2. Aspiration of this salon is to open other salons under the same name in
Chennai for starters and then may be go for expansion provided enough
funds are there.
3. Since currently planning to open a new shop in t nagar they are looking for
someone to invest.

Competitors
1.

Many local barber shops are there but according to the area their customers
have been divided
2. Other competitors such as franchise barber shops which provide same
services under better ambience rarely have the same segment of customers
due to different needs and prices.
3. Since franchise barber shops market, them well, better known with tech
savvy people and online.

SWOT
Strengths

Weakness

Great customer service

Not appealing to higher income group

Laid back culture

Inconsistent with professionalism

Nice atmosphere

Waiting time

Facial massage, hair coloring,

bleaching almost all the services
available.
Local and cheap.

Opportunities

Threats

Great location as it is on the main

road

Little to no importance to online

marketing as compared to franchise
and other tech savvy owners.

Compared to other salons prices are

lower
Chances for promoting online via
website and other social platforms.

Rising no of local barber shops as this

model is easy to repeat.

Pest analysis
Political

Economical

Minimum wage

With per capita income rising people

looking for more than a cut and shave
(ambience)
With less time available people looking
for service provided at home.

Social

Technological

Gender trends or unisex salons

Electric razor for men (sales have

increased)

1.Spoke with a few customers and found that when a new customer enters the
salon, a friendly greeting goes a long way to make them feel comfortable. You have
to stress the importance to everyone in the salon. As they say, smiles are free and
priceless.
2.I, myself, am not that particular about my haircut and too many questions bother
me because I am scared of the results of my instructions. I like saying a simple short
and they seem to know the rest. They do periodically ask my opinion to see if they
are following the instructions and I have observed them catering to other customers
who want their hair cut in a particular way.

3.When I went for a haircut this last weekend, it was busy and the chairs in the
waiting area were almost full and the wait was long (10 min). There was enough
staff but as new customers came in, they were greeted and told that the wait time
was not more than 10 minutes and that was probably accurate.

Points of parity
1. At low prices they provide the haircuts and shaves in the local area and also
compared with other salons in malls.
2. More familiarity with people needs in terms of their style and requirements.
3. Providing extras like a head massage with the shave.

Points of difference
1.Ambience and marketing is the biggest advantage that their competitors have i.e.
salons in malls with ambience and other big salons.

2.Their competitors have more advanced machines like razor blades and others
which puts them at a disadvantage.
3. Location at a primary mall or a prominent place (competitors) puts them at a
disadvantage in terms of being known.

Target audience
1. Demographics: Targeting people with age from 5 to 80-year-old men from
the local area
2. Psychographics: Middle income people mostly.
3. Behavioral: Most customers are repetitive say 90% (based on my
observation and meeting with customers)
4. Pricing: Pricing is mainly low - medium with 40 to 50 rupees being charged
for shave and haircuts.
5. Loyalty: There treatment of customers is fantastic as I found out during my
research and low prices makes more than 95% customers coming regularly.

Findings of day 2:
Met with customers after 8 pm and asked a few questions regarding brand loyalty
and why they prefer to come this salon.
1. R Srinivasan: man in his late thirties has been coming here ever since he was
a teenager and said that he feels comfortable while coming to this salon.
2. M Venkatesh: men in early thirties visiting this place for a decade and told me
that he often comes for shave and haircut and when asked about the add-ons
he told he liked shoulder massage that this salon offers after every shave and
haircut.
3. A Siddhartha: teenager has been coming ever since he was a child and feels
a familiarity with this place (salon) and when asked what makes him come
again and again he told that he knew Mr. Ramdas and called him uncle and
told that this place was cheaper compared to others and told me that the
barbers knew what he wanted.
Findings of day 3:
1. Met with 3 customers today and will be meeting more in the coming days and
will keep you updated.

2. Aditya: Aditya is in his late twenties and says that Mr. ramdass not only adds
a human touch to their customers experience but tells you his struggles in
life and lends his ears on understanding my story. He not only listens but also
records my stories apart from a good haircut that he gets twice a month.
3. B Lokesh: Lokesh in early twenties says no matter how bad the day is going,
he smiles and greets and thanks customers when they are leaving in a way
as it creates a lasting impression which makes you start feeling a kinship with
him and he comes here 4 times a month for shave and once or twice for
haircut.
4. Arun N: Man in his late fifties has been visiting for almost 20 years and says
he finds a connection apart from a good service especially coloring his white
hair too black.
5. M Abdullah: Man in his mid-thirties has been coming here for 15 years says
he likes the mannerisms of the employees and the people to people response
that he gets apart from the regular haircut.

Survey
1. Who cuts your hair? (out of 4 employees)

2. Why do you go there?

There is a family member so it is free

I like how they cut my hair

Good customer service
The price

Convenient location
Quick service

3. Do you usually go there or do you use different barbers

depending on your location?

I go to different barbers
I come to s r beauty salon

4. How much do you pay for your haircut?

6. What would encourage you to use another barber?

Better parking

Price

Appointment system
Quickness

Unique service
Improved customer service (e.g. tea, coffee)

others

7. Would you be interested in a cutthroat razor shave service?

8. How much would you be prepared to pay for a. Basic Cut Throat Shave (10-15
mins) b. Luxury Shave with massage and hot towel (30-40 mins)

9. Would you pay more for a haircut including these services, if yes which ones
and how much?

10. Do you have any other suggestions or comments relating to any of the
questions you have answered or maybe something we have neglected to
think about?

Brand image
There is no such brand image for S R beauty salon but a simple billboard which says
the name of the salon.

Product Augmenting
There is no such augmenting of S R beauty salon but here are the few things that I
thought of that they could do:
1.S R beauty salon should have their own Barber Shop Business Cards. they can
have a client contact list in their phone, but business cards are still key to growing
their income. They can be passed out and left all over the place providing cell

number While getting the cards made, they should have an exact image of the kind
of haircuts they specialize in.
2.Consistency should be the key when building your clients. Also you never know
when new people will walk through the door of the barber shop. Therefore, you
must have in your mind that you will be in the shop putting in hours even when its
dead. Which you also want to make sure that you are consistent with your schedule.
This will eventually pay off if you can stick to this plan.
3.Marketing and promotion is key to any business growing. This is no different with s
r beauty salon. Clients just dont magically show up. They need to put up some
billboards.
4.they should give a day for students by giving discounts on haircuts. They should
put it between a time frame and day when they know its always slow. they should
sometimes only target a certain kind of haircut like and charge upwards of 30% less
than the regular price. These deals once promoted and placing a sign on the
window will always bring new students.

Recent campaigns
No campaigns have been done by s r beauty salon.

Service Business Analysis

4 Retail types:
1.

Salons: Stores with only hair styling services and products .

2.

Day Spas: Stores specializing in body health maintenance through a variety

of services and products.

3.

Day Spa & Salon: Stores combining the services of the two
aforementioned.

4.

Health & Beauty Products: Stores selling only merchandise product

covering the wide range of products available but not inclusive of those sold by
salons and spas.

Main Competitors
The main competitors are spas located across town. Strengths of these spas are its wide array of spa
services. The weaknesses of these spas are the limited number of services dedicated specifically to male
clients, i.e. hair grooming, shaves, shoe shines. Spa services and products cater more toward the female
professional. Our market advantage is wide open, and will give us the opportunity to service a large
population base of professional males that is not currently being well served.

Competition and Buying

Patterns
Clients choose men's grooming services based on proximity to their daily travels
from home and work, reputation for high quality service, and good pricing. With our
combined services and catering to the male professional, we don't feel we have
competition. Any competition will mainly be from unisex salons or
combination unisex spa-salons.

Business Participants
Industry participants are those whose services include salon and spa offerings.
Salon services concern hair styling, while spa services concern body relaxing and
rejuvenating offerings such as massage, nail, and face works.
No one industry participant has focused specifically toward men only in Chennai.

Strategy and
Implementation
1.

Emphasize quality, originality, and "World Class Service"

- We will differentiate ourselves from our competitors by offering a staff of
practitioners who are not only certified in their professions, but will be trained in
understanding the dynamics of customer service so as to maximize the
connection to their clients and more easily meet their clients expectations.

2.

We will provide a unique atmosphere - From our professional staff

to our ambience of our barber shop, s r beauty salon will distinguish itself as a
completely trustworthy and soothing setting where clients can enjoy being
pampered, escape the stress of their everyday lives and enjoy the camaraderie
of friends and colleagues.

3.

Build a community/corporate relationship-oriented

business - We will focus on strengthening the trust of our customer base,
and providing not only services, but information that will aid everyone in the
progression of obtaining a balanced and healthy lifestyle.

Value Proposition
Our value proposition is that we will bring a unique mode of relaxation and
fulfillment to the discerning gentleman. When people are relaxed, comfortable, and
happy they have the ability to work harder, concentrate better, feel physically,
emotionally, and mentally balanced, and give that happiness back into their homes,
workplace, and community. Simply put, our value proposition is that we help our
community become a better place to live and work .

Competitive Edge
Our competitive edge is a combination of our unique services, outstanding location,
and our interaction with our clients. By providing our clients a gentleman's club
atmosphere and provide world class services, we build relationships of trust and
satisfaction. Our clients will come to depend on our unique services and fulfilling
environment.

Marketing Strategy
Our marketing strategy is the key to our success:
1.

Emphasize our name and unique services and environment through

advertising.

2.

Focus on the convenience of our location.

3.

Build community relationships and corporate relationships through unique

and quality service, a friendly caring atmosphere, and delivering world class
service.

Promotion Strategy
Our promotional strategy will be two-fold: first phase promotion will be advertising
before, during, and six months following our opening; the second phase advertising
will deal with long-term advertising.

1.

First Phase Promotions:

A. Advertising - We will utilize local newspaper, local social magazines, local
radio, pamphlets to all households within the immediate 10 km radius, and
pamphlets to all local business within a 5 km radius.

B. Internet - We will have a comprehensive website.

C. Alliances - We will place our brochure within the offices of our corporate
referral clients.

2.

Second Phase Promotions:

A. Advertising - We will continue to place ads in the local social magazines
year around. pamphlets will be send again within a 10 km radius one year
after takeoff, then again only every two to five years. Radio and television
ads will be done only when we have sale promotions during the most
stressful time of the year - the holiday season; television ads are not certain;
we will evaluate their effectiveness before further implementation.

B. Internet - We will continue to have a comprehensive website. After the first

six months, and certainly after the first year, we will evaluate the viability of
having target clients advertise on our site, and conversely, we will evaluate
viability of advertising on our target client website.

C. Alliances - This type of advertising will be implemented once we have

grown beyond our revenue objective. We will also form advertising alliances
with any business with whom we share common business goals. We will also
implement mutual perks with our business and restaurant neighbors which
will aid in local visibility.

Marketing Programs
Owner Mr. S R Ramdas and myself will be responsible for marketing S R beauty
salon through the advertising channels. I will be responsible for assisting with the
implementation of alliance advertising partnerships. Our advertising budget is
10,000 rupees for the first year. Advertising will begin two weeks prior to opening to
new salon and spa service center.

Positioning Statement
We will automatically position ourselves as the top, exclusive gentlemen's grooming
shop in the mylapore and nearby areas. Considering that none of the other
competitors will offer the range of men's services that we will, nor that their staffs
will be trained like ours, and that there are not any barbershops of our type in our
target locations, we will be able to provide services to The Mall populace not
currently being tapped.

Pricing Strategy
Our pricing strategy will be simple for initial years. We will not charge over, nor
substantially under, standard prices for our services. We will be paying our
employees a straight percentage of their total individual client sales plus a bonus
that's more than our competitors. This will allow us to hire the best employees, and
have a built-in motivational factor that will keep them empowered to enhance their
opportunity.

Sales Strategy
1.

Our umbrella sales strategy is to sell s r beauty salon to the male professional
as a uniquely desirable destination that will enhance their lives.

2.

We will sell s r beauty salon through each employee's skill, courtesy, and
warmth, creating a trusting impression on all clients, and establishing loyalty
and return visits. We will ensure each visit to s r beauty salon is a relaxing and
memorable experience, so that clients can always depend on our brand of
service when they arrive.

Sales Programs
1.

Our comprehensive brochure will explain the nature of our services, and how
this benefits our clients.

2.

Our website will be comprehensively informative of our services, environment

and their benefits.

Strategic Alliances
We will form alliances with our referral clients, local restaurants, offices, and
businesses who will be strategically beneficial for generating new clients.

Financial Plan
The premier element in our financial plan is initiating, maintaining, and improving
the factors that create, stabilize, and increase our cash flow:
1. We must create visibility so as to create customer flow.

2. We must maintain a dependable, cheerful employee force so as to minimize

turnover.

Important Assumptions
The key underlying assumptions of our financial plan shown in the
following general assumption table are:
1. We assume access to equity capital and financing to support our financial
plan.
2. We assume our financial progress based on realistic sales to minimum sales
against highest expenses.

3. We assume there will not be an economic crash that would greatly hinder our
target market's access to their personal luxury finds.

GENERAL ASSUMPTIONS

So, these were the few strategies that should be adopted according to me, if I were to
devise the plans.